Accountability

Managers must hold sales persons accountable for their performance or lack of it. Owners must hold management to the same standards. Why can’t they commit the time and energy to maximize the sales effort of their staff?

One of the reasons is that in the last 20 years administrative tasks have tied the sales managers to their desks for the majority of their working time. Little time is left for the art of deal making.  The manufacturers decided that they could have the dealer process claims, report sales plus assorted processes that they handled prior to computers and the web.

A second reason is that Managers expect a sales person to sell without any help from management. If I took a poll of owners and managers about what bothers them the most, I bet you it is the poor quality of their sales staff. Sales staffs reflect management’s standards; if they are low then guess what happens.  When I hear a manager say he can’t get a sales person to change their bad habits I just shake my head. If you think by complaining about an issue, it will change the outcome it will not.  Management must have structure, a sales process and technology. Structure means standards of accountability. Sales process means the steps of the sale to be followed by all sales persons. Technology is the means to process and manage accountability of your staff. As management you cannot sit in your office and wait for something to happen, you must create what happens. If you sit and wait for the next sales activity you are no different than the sales person who sits and stares out the window. Put the paper shuffling to a clerical and get involved in making deals.

Use technology to measure quickly how you are really performing with the purpose of improving the outcome. Train, teach and set the tone of what is expected, break the old culture and you will sell more cars.